The San Antonio Housing Authority provides quality affordable housing that is well integrated into the fabric of neighborhoods and serves as a foundation to improve lives and advance resident independence.

JOBS-PLUS

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro is joined by SAHA President and CEO Lourdes Castro Ramírez (far right) and the Jobs-Plus staff.

JOBS-PLUS

Jobs-Plus is an innovative, place-based, employment and community-building program that focuses on raising the level of employment and earnings among public housing residents. In 2011, the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) became the only Jobs-Plus site, outside of New York City, and was awarded a five-year, $2.5 million grant to launch the program at two San Antonio public housing communities. The SAHA Jobs-Plus program is funded by the Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a public-private partnership administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service designed to grow high-impact organizations delivering proven solutions. SAHA was competitively selected by the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, one of sixteen Social Innovation Fund intermediaries. The Mayor’s Fund is working in partnership with the NYC Center for Economic Opportunity, the City of San Antonio, and MDRC, a nonprofit social research and policy organization, and national funders including Bloomberg Philanthropies. The SAHA Jobs-Plus program is also supported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Kresge Foundation.

The purpose of the Jobs-Plus grant program is to work with residents to meet their employment goals, earn more money, and improve the resident’s quality of life. The grant has been awarded specifically for two of the SAHA’s most impoverished public housing developments: Alazan-Apache Courts and Mirasol Homes.

As a Moving To Work (MTW) designated agency, SAHA’s Jobs-Plus program model uses three strategies to accomplish the MTW initiative of “Developing employment centers and programs that help residents prepare for and obtain steady, good paying jobs:”

EMPLOYMENT-RELATED SERVICES

Job-search assistance

Collaboration with business partners to identify job training and employment opportunities

Coaching to help residents adjust to the world of work

Vocational training (usually short-term)

General Education Development (GED) and English as a Second language (ESL) courses

Identify employers willing to work with hard-to-employ residents transitioning to the world of work

Identify agencies who assist with starting or running small businesses

Other support services (i.e. child care)

FINANCIAL INCENTIVES

Conditional rent-based incentives to help residents keep more of their earnings

COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR WORK

Supervised “Community Coaches” (small team of residents) are recruited, and trained, to encourage their neighbors to utilize Jobs-Plus services to improve their employability

“Community Coaches” also play a vital role in engaging residents to establish informal and formal systems to support members’ efforts to secure long-term sustainable employment

The Jobs-Plus Program utilizes the provision of housing to engage residents in “non-traditional” ways to facilitate workforce development within the communities they live

JOBS-PLUS GETS RESULTS

After one year of operation, the Jobs-Plus program has achieved the following accomplishments at Alazan-Apache Courts and Mirasol Homes:

Placed or advanced 120 members in employment opportunities

Economic impact to local community is $1.3 million annually in salaries through job placement or advancement

Current membership totals more than 450 residents (as of May 2013)

Collaborated with residents and businesses at more than 125 local events

Encouraged over 250 residents to attend educational workshops

One business partner has provided over $18,000 in in-kind services through free CDL and forklift training

Referred members to over 975 social services appointments to help reduce their barriers to employment

Referred more than 80 members to GED resources and 20% have already completed courses (as of May 2013)